The role of absolute and relative amounts of time in forgetting within immediate memory: The case of tone-pitch comparisons

• Published in: Psychonomic bulletin & review Vol. 4; no. 3; pp. 393 - 397
• Main Authors: Cowan, Nelson, Saults, J. Scott, Nugent, Lara D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.1997
• ISSN: 1069-9384; 1531-5320
• DOI: 10.3758/BF03210799

An examination of the role of absolute & relative time on immediate verbal memory in a tone-comparison study of a group of students (N = 28) by varying the retention interval period & the interpair interval. The subjects were asked to listen to pairs of sounds separated by a silent period & to determine whether or not the sounds were the same or different. The study is based on two types of memory limitation (decay, interference) that are the focus of recent theoretical debate about the nature of forgetting in immediate memory. Three types of memory decay are defined in terms of related literature, & opinions of each definition are provided. The results indicate that there is an effect of the absolute time elapsed between tones to be compared even with the ratio between the interpair interval & the retentinal interval held constant, & that there is an effect or temporal distinctiveness as reflected by the interpair interval. 1 Table, 1 Figure, 34 References. Adapted from the source document